Reducing power consumption in wireless mobile devices is of growing concern. Wireless mobile devices today include an ever-growing list of features, such as Web browsing, e-mail, text messaging, and digital photography, to name a few. Manufacturers strive to pack these additional features into a small package, thus leaving less and less room for batteries. At the same time, these additional features can significantly increase power consumption of a wireless mobile device. For example, power is consumed by the wireless mobile device's transmitter whenever data is transmitted, such as when an e-mail, digital photograph, or text message is sent or when data is uploaded to a web site.
Moreover, the amount of power consumed will vary based on characteristics of the data transmission. That is, the same amount of data can be transmitted multiple times to a remote endpoint under varying circumstances, with each time resulting in a different amount of power being consumed in connection with the data transmission, which is referred to herein as a power cost. It would be advantageous to control data transmission based on power cost to provide reduced power consumption.
Accordingly, there exists a need for methods, systems, and computer program products for controlling data transmission based on power cost.